"Dell and NextGen Healthcare are committed to delivering leading-edge solutions that will assist health care providers in the delivery of higher quality, better coordinated care," Patrick Cline, president of Quality Systems, said in a statement. "This agreement will leverage the capabilities of both organizations to build on the strengths of our success and capitalize on unprecedented market opportunities."

Together Dell and NextGen will market and deliver technology services to practices of all sizes, including rural and community hospitals and physician networks. The combined Dell/NextGen products will include hardware, software, implementation and consulting services.

"As NextGen helps its clients identify hardware to go along with their EHR and practice management software, Dell's hardware solutions will be the preferred platform," Ike Ellison, NextGen's senior vice president for business development, wrote in an e-mail to eWEEK.

The agreement between Dell and NextGen, announced on Aug. 8, expands on existing collaboration between the two companies to a broader market, Dell reports. For NextGen, the partnership means that all types of medical organizations will be able to access the latest health care IT technology, Ellison said.

"With this partnership, we're bringing together best-of-breed EHR, health information exchange, practice management and other solutions, hardware, and hosting opportunities to offer these providers a variety of ways to access the same, state-of-the-art solutions," Ellison said. "That way, we can help them identify the right solution for their organization, budget, culture, and needs."